WEDNESDAY, 27 May, 1998 #847

Jean Doré who has acquired great hi-tech expertise during
his stints with Hitachi and SNC (he can open WINDOWS)

Wednesday Night # 847

Wednesday evening May 27, 1998, at the Nicholsons' was largely devoted to exchanges with former Montréal mayor, Jean Doré, who is returning to the local political scene to run once again.
Other guests included Richard Diamond of Canderel with his wife Rhonda, and Steven Young, an American entrepreneur and expert on Y2K bugs [no "Millennium Bugs" on this PhD type] and related issues who is moving to Montréal from Texas to marry a Montrealer. Please see Cable vs Satelite by Michael Head

Why does Jean Doré want to be Mayor again?

What makes an international city?

There seemed little doubt that Montréal does indeed qualify as an international city, but for different reasons, including "attitude". One guest, a regular Wednesday nighter, expressed the opinion that indeed, Montréal was the most international city in North America, New York and most European cities notwithstanding, but was not living up to its potential.

Monsieur Doré agreed, citing as a major reason the fact that unlike Toronto, Montréal is not a capital city. Historically, Montréal was created against the wishes of the Governor of Québec who in fact, did not want Maisonneuve to establish that city. In order to counter this reticence on the part of Québec, the Island, and in fact the entire Montréal region must work together and act in concert. MUC serves a useful role for the integration of such services as fire-fighting, however as long as it continues to exclude the north and south shore communities, there will be inequity in costs and tax burden. While in some instances, amalgamation would be required, it does not necessarily offer economies of scale. There are now too many municipalities, but the concept of one island, one city, is not necessarily a valid one. Before proceeding along that route, however Montréal must put its own finances in order. "AMALGAMATING WORDS AND CITIES" by Peter F. Trent also Quebec's urban jumble by Peter F. Trent and others on The Mega City! Big Danger!

[2001 now look at Westmount or Merger Notes]

As for the suggestion that Montréal's major handicap is Québec's language policy, the former mayor pledged that he would fight with Québec to have Montréal declared the bilingual, or multilingual city which it is de facto.

Examples of how the current language situation works to the detriment of the city were presented by the guests. It was acknowledged that the general population has adjusted very well to linguistic and cultural diversity, that in fact this has added to the attraction of the city. Such examples as a unilingual display of a piece of the Berlin wall in the International Trade Centre, or the fact that only twenty percent of the tourist-oriented printed material published by Montréal was published in English, worked effectively to conceal the true open, generous nature of the city. But, if we are to successfully attract new major industries, the language-of-work issues must be resolved. The chair [DTN] cut off the language talk beyond that of 'work or the tourist industry'. We must learn to think like our visitors ...if only to bring their money back.

Monsieur Doré described his plan for the waterfront. Over a fifteen year period, as the access roads to the city require rebuilding, the land at the edge of the water, stretching from the Jacques Cartier bridge to the Old Port, and eventually to the Honoré Mercier bridge, would be reclaimed as green space, with the highway running beside it, offering a unique vista to travellers along the route.

Although this suggestion stirred the imagination of the guests, most felt that such interdependent issues as poverty, health services and education require higher priority.
Barry Lazar eloquently presented the plight of his neighborhood in NDG.

Real Estate:

Diva project

The previous Doré government set up para-public organisations which meddled in real estate and caused major problems. What would be different under a new Doré administration?

The objective then was to develop land reserves and to assume responsibility for problem areas - scrapyards, abandoned chemical plants. We were overspending like other cities in expansion mode. The lesson learned was that any move by the municipality must be covered by the private sector.

Montréal's Finances:

People, jobs and business strategy

We are losing the best and the brightest to the U.S. and at the same time, our thriving aerospace, telecommunications, information technology companies cannot recruit the people they need, partly because of salary differentials with the U.S., and partly because of the perceptions of difficulties for foreign staff - language of work, education of children, availability of services in English…. Montréal needs strategies to incorporate its student population in the companies that are hiring, before the students graduate. We also need companies to work together, to avail themselves of local knowledge and technology rather than looking to similar technologies abroad (example being multi-media).

Jean Doré emphasized that there must be a 15-year redevelopment vision for the City and the region. This must include the restructuring of Montreal financially and the continued development and improvement of its socio-economic and physical infrastructures One important factor in the implementation of this vision must be the deadline imposed by the move towards the opening of trade and the integration of the geopolitical entities of the Americas. There is an important international role for Montréal to play in this and Montréal must be properly positioned.

The market and the dollar

Reported by Herbert Bercovitz and Michael Judson
Edited by Diana Thébaud Nicholson

• Wednesday-Night 700 With Mayor Pierre Bourque
• Thursday 21 May 1998 Card statement went astray BERNARD PERUSSE... I have a MasterCard account that uses U.S. funds and a Gold MasterCard that uses Canadian funds. Both cards are issued by Canada Trust.
• smart-card 13/Jan/2001
• SNC-Lavalin get SNC Chart
  
  

• See the rase for Mayor of Montréal
• Sunday 5 July 1998 Does Montreal want Expos? That's a question that must be answered before building a new stadium by DAVID JOHNSTON

  "If it is a total failure, and Montrealers in five years draw the line and show that baseball is foreign to our culture, then we will have to re-evaluate." - Jean Dore, 1990 (saved)
  
  

• Wednesday 27 May 1998 Up to date on telecom Andy Riga a great story ... Maybe SPEED (saved)
• Wednesday 27 May 1998 - Henry Aubin Quebec's population deficit Low birthrate, exodus and dwindling immigration add up to trouble by HENRY AUBIN (saved)
• Wednesday 27 May 1998 Auditor blasts Montreal City oblivious to spending, pays too much for repairs by MICHELLE LALONDE ...Unfortunately, for a city with a budget as large as that of Montreal, we are underequipped to be able to give management information," Lefebvre said.
  

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  Jacques Clément
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

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  The Smart Card

  Wednesday #823 on Hi tech with Marc Nicholson by Linda Blanshay
  & Michael Judson Edited by Diana Thébaud Nicholson
  
  

  Notes on this site to be seen 1998

  ../westweb/ on computers and web help and Speed / ISPs / Y2K and ..how to get the most out of these sites

  #846 Computer night May 20th. was an ok night
  
  

  #845 Asia night May 13th. was a great evening
  
  

  We feel that this is an appropriate occasion to pay tribute to our two devoted scribes whose meticulous notes enable us to publish summaries of Wednesday events. Herb Bercovitz and Michael Judson are an indispensable part of the organisation and we thank them!

  David and Diana Nicholson
  

  By Herbert Bercovitz